Princeton receives $1.8 million in state funds for community center project

Matching funds from the governor’s office will help to expedite the start of work on a new Princeton Community Center and new offices for the Princeton Police Department.

City officials said Monday that they hope the work will get underway by the end of the year.

The city of Princeton has received $1.8 million for its Community Center Project and $657,000 for its Police Department Project from the office of Gov. Jim Justice. Both projects will be built at the city hall complex on Bee Street, Samuel Lusk, the city’s economic development director, said. These grants came to a total of $2.4 million.

“The city deeply appreciates Governor Jim Justice’s commitment to the citizens of the city of Princeton,” Lusk said.

The $1.8 million is matching $2.2 million from the USDA funds previously made through Congressional appropriations through the offices of U.S Senator Shelley Moore Capito, R-W.Va. and U.S. Senator Joe Manchin, I-W.Va. The $657,000 grant is matching a USDA Community Facilities Congressional appropriation from Capito and Manchin, Lusk said.

When completed, the new Princeton Community Center located off Bee Street will have three basketball courts, multi-purpose rooms and a full kitchen, Lusk said.

The $657,000 grants, totaling about $1.3 million, will go towards constructing administrative offices to help move the Princeton Police Department to the Bee Street Complex, he said. That will be Phase I of the project. Later phases will be pursued as funding becomes available. This second phase will include evidence rooms, interview rooms and additional facilities for the police department.

Another project to be located on Bee Street property donated by the Preservati Family Charitable Trust Foundation is a wave pool facility. The city is actively working towards closing on funding for that project, Lusk said.

“Bond issuance for the wave pool is due to close on Jan. 30 and we expect to have shovels in the ground for the three projects – the community center, wave pool and police department – by the end of the year,” Lusk said.

“These projects could not have been realized without the generous land donation of the Preservati Family Charitable Trust Foundation,” Lusk said.